The bill, authored by Rep. Jeff Farrington, a Utica Republican, is headed for the Senate.

It calls for the Department of Human Services to launch a pilot program in three or more counties this year, and to expand the testing requirement statewide by 2015.

Welfare recipients 18 and older would be required to take a drug test -- at their own expense -- if a survey or screening process determined there was some suspicion they were drug users. The bill would require that such a process is properly validated.

Those who passed the test would have its cost deducted from their first payment of benefits. Those whose tests were positive for drug use would be ineligible for cash assistance for six months, unless they complete a substance abuse program.

The proposed legislation echoes a requirement for drug testing of all welfare recipients put in place by former Gov. John Engler in 1999. That was struck down by a state court. But a requirement based on suspicion that a recipient might be using drugs is expected to pass muster.

The bill would affect only those receiving cash assistance.

More than half the states are considering similar testing for those seeking welfare or unemployment benefits. Two states, West Virginia and Indiana, require drug testing for those seeking job training. And

one survey says more than half the nation's employers administer drug tests before hiring.

We agree with backers of the proposal that the testing requirement should be a strong incentive for drug users to quit, perhaps even more so if they have children to support.

We have one concern: Such tests turn up false positives from 5 percent to 10 percent of the time. The rules should include some kind of appeal mechanism to deal with that possibility.

But Michigan's welfare dollars shouldn't be distributed to those who are going to spend it to feed a destructive habit.